The Painted Bush Quail lives in grasslands of the Indian Peninsula. Males have a white eyebrow and throat, while the red bill and legs are conspicuous field marks. Small groups may forage in the morning and evening.
The bill and legs are red. Males have a white eyebrow and throat that stand out against their dark plumage.
Painted Bush Quails inhabit Indian hills with grass and low scrub. Their nests are shallow ground scrapes at the base of a bush or grass clump, sometimes lined with a little grass. The ground and the bases of plants provide space for laying eggs.
A 1979 Madras Government Museum catalogue records one egg measuring 29 by 22 millimetres. The accompanying species account describes elongated oval eggs, tapering towards the smaller end, with a slight gloss and no spots.
The account gives colours ranging from creamy buff to very pale brown. The record describes ground-level breeding through shallow nests beneath vegetation and the pale eggs placed within them.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
At Bison Swamp in the Nilgiris, where this species was recorded, a KBA account last assessed in 2007 identifies conversion of natural forest and grassland to exotic plantations, grassland fires and poaching as regional concerns. It proposes halting habitat degradation and extending protection.